Catch up with the latest VODG news in our Winter newsletter

Welcome to the VODG newsletter. In this issue find out more about VODG:

championing social value

addressing disability and employment

monitoring post-Brexit, and the

annual conference roundup.

Championing social value

Harnessing social value is an essential route to tackling inequalities. Our social value toolkit offers a very practical resource to support organisations to better articulate their added value. It offers practical examples of how the sector is making a huge difference to the lives of disabled people and the communities in which they live.

Download the social value toolkit here

The toolkit reflects an approach to commissioning which creates maximum value for money from public spending by realising additional benefits from providers – at no extra cost to the public purse. It also guides social care providers on how to demonstrate the added value that not-for-profit organisations deliver.

Addressing disability and employment

The UK’s disability employment gap is around 32%. Less than half of disabled people are in work – 48% – compared to 80% of their non-disabled peers.

Closing the disability employment gap: download the report

VODG and its members are seeking to close the disability and employment gap through progressive practice. As part of the Green Paper consultation we have published a case study report outlining successful employment and training schemes delivered by specialist disability organisations. VODG hopes this will spark fresh dialogue between policy makers, disabled people, businesses and charities.

Monitoring post-Brexit

What are the sector’s post-Brexit priorities?

Amid the uncertainties created by Brexit, VODG sets out issues for organisations to consider when planning strategy, services and the workforce.

Our report examines the ramifications of different visions of Brexit – so called “hard Brexit” and “soft Brexit” – depending on how close a relationship the UK retains with the EU and its access to the single market. The report considers the impact of Brexit in terms of the following:

Economy – will Brexit produce a sustained downturn that impacts on social care funding? UK charities received over £200 million from EU funding in 2014, but leaving the EU means they will no longer have access to this money.

Domestic issues – will domestic policy become the poor relation to Brexit?

Workforce – how will the future workforce be secured? There is concern for the future of the 80,000 EU nationals involved in the delivery of care and support in the UK.

The coalition of health and social care organisations aims to influence and lobby on post-EU referendum issues.

The Cavendish Coalition have launched a programme of work around representing and influencing, and have produced a range of helpful resources and guidance.

Find out more about the Cavendish Coalition

VODG annual conference

Over 100 chief executives and senior directors came together for VODG’s annual conference. Download the presentations and catch up with the social share via this link.

Coming up

VODG will be launching a new website.

Alongside the National Care Forum we are continuing our work programme through the voluntary sector strategic partnership. In the final quarter of the year our focus includes using technology in social care, and the issues raised when supporting people living with dementia and disability.

We will continue to monitor sector issues following the EU referendum with new resources released in the final quarter of the business year.